I learned that
my father was Chinese,
and mother was Russian,
she was a professor of Foreign Language in Tangshan University.
They both died in the earthquake in 1976.
All my relatives were dead.
I was 3 years old then.
I had no one to depend on.
The orphanage was my home from then on.
There I grew up.
CHINESE BOTANIST'S DAUGHTER
TANGSHAN ORPHANAGE
Dean, see you.
You are leaving? Ah, remember,
the botanical garden of Kunlin University where you are going,
there is a Professor Chen, he is a famous herbal specialist.
This internship is a good opportunity.
It is only one and a half months, but you will learn much.
We will need your knowledge afterwards.
Hello.
Sir, I'd like to talk to Professor Chen.
Doctor Li is talking to him. What is your business?
I am his intern, Li Ming.
Ask for him tomorrow.
Excuse me, comrade.
Do you know what time it is?
It is already 21:08.
How dare you bother a professor at this time!
Father, what you want me to do?
First, prepare some seeds,
then carefully remove the weeds.
Professor Chen.
You are Li Ming, the intern?
You must have a problem with timing.
First, you broke my rule yesterday.
Annoying me at 9:08 in the evening.
Then, you were an hour late this morning.
See, we already have a rest now.
Remember, never bother a professor after 9PM.
Is that a bird?
Professor Chen, it is my little present.
No need for this.
Long live Chairman Mao!
I heard from the seller that it can speak many words.
but all learned during the Culture Revolution.
What is your name?
Enough.
Arrange for her stay now.
Isn't it only a month and a half?
Unnecessary to make a room.
Help me, Li Ming.
I want her to be happy here.
Long live Chairman Mao!
Its Latin name is...
Polygonum Multiflorum
In Chinese we called it He-shou-wu.
In TCM we use it to treat renal and hepatic illness.
According to the most ancient medical books, our ancestors used their prescription...
against the wet dreams of men.
Today, we use it against constipation too.
The taste of its root is bitter as well as sweet.
You will not forget it if you tried.
Everyone of you, our doctors to be, should experience this.
Come here, Comrade Li!
What is the matter?
Say what I asked you to bring us.
Shou-wu.
Exactly.
But you brought me what?
Wu-tou!
It is not Shou-wu, but Wu-tou.
It is poisonous to humans, you know?
Why don't you open up your eyes widely?
Fortunately, I checked by myself.
Otherwise, everyone here would be dead because of you.
What a great privilege in your life
to study at the best botanical garden.
Many people dream of coming here!
Who sent you to me?
He must be blind.
I am sorry.
Actually, I know what you feel.
I am a half orphan.
When I was ten years old, my mother
passed away.
No more words.
Don't leave. My father's temper is always like that.
Cold and stubborn. Not only against you.
He is kind deep inside however.
You will see after a while.
I've tried to adapt to him for more than 20 years,
but still can not bear his temper all the time.
Father, your breakfast.
Father, breakfast.
My breakfast time is 7:30, not 8:00.
Different things for different times.
You know that.
Take it away, I don't want it today.
This is Erythrine.
A toxic leguminous plant.
Comrade Li, remember it is Erythrine.
Before, people tooks its seeds,
macerated them for days,
filtered the juice,
and reduced it to obtain the poison.
Well, nowadays,
people usually use it as an anaesthetic
Professor Chen, you are so smart!
Officially, resin of pine is different.
You need to keep trampping it,
until it has turned snow white.
It is very effective against abscesses...
and skin inflammations.
You are so beautiful.
Help me add some water.
Looking for Ginseng again?
Morning Master Wang.
Long time no see. When did you arrive?
Just now.
You have an assistant?
Her name is Li Ming, she is training here.
Ginseng is rare this year.
This.
Wait.
OK, you do not need to fear any more.
The odor of ointment makes the snakes flee.
Li Ming, come here and look.
Wild atractyles, it is so rare. And there are two of them.
Attention!
You know, a long time ago, the robbers from south of China
attached the root to their belts when they went out.
If they were caught and beaten, chewed this,
and the wounds would heal faster.
One of these robbers
ended up becoming an emperor.
He named this plant Crimson Whip.
You know my father has heart problems.
Sometimes he had heart attacks.
Then he found a remedy
just made of glycine from the mountains.
it seems that the glycine is the same
as that in the garden.
Although they are as twice as heavy.
Look.
Its juice is like milk
His heart disease is all right now?
Still under control.
Ginseng is like us humans.
They have spirits.
You must bind them first.
Otherwise, once you dig, they will run away.
An.
It's so interesting to be with you.
Professor Chen, your tea is ready.
You didn't forget: 5 grams less than in the morning, did you?
I didn't.
Hold on.
An has already told you to make the tea with rainwater, hasn't she?
Yes.
So why didn't you use the rainwater?
Is it full of rainwater?
- I... - You thought I wouldn't know?
Let me tell you!
I can even distinguish which season the rain was from.
An.
That is the place I hurt my foot.
There are many stones, be careful.
The mire in this pond is my father's favorite.
I come here several times each year.
An.
The duck is so perfect today. Neither hard nor soft.
Cooked just to the correct point.
I can feel it melting in my mouth.
You try one!
Thank you Professor, I don't like it.
No?
It is so delicious.
I can say nothing can be better than this.
You don't eat either?
I am not hungry today.
Both of you are so strange tonight.
An!
Stop! You are making a mistake.
I'm here.
Sorry.
Come on!
Stone, scissor, handkerchief.
Scissor, stone, handkerchief.
Stone, scissor, handkerchief. Scissor, stone, handkerchief.
You lost once again!
- Dean! - Father is coming.
Father!
Always the same. Showing off all of a sudden.
I will introduce her to you.
She is Li Ming and training in our home.
Hello, Li Ming.
Hello.
Sorry for what I just did.
I'm her brother. My name is Dan.
You came right on time.
So, our family and comrade Li
can go outside together and have some fun.
What are they doing?
Looks like a wedding party of peasants.
You should think about it. She is not so young.
26 years old.
At your age, I was already married.
How about her?
You tell me.
You don't have a "friend", do you?
What a coincidence,
I am single, as you.
I think they are fit for each other.
You're Li Ming's friend. So, you should give your brother a hand.
To settle the most important things for him.
Earliest will be the best.
This oarsman is not very strong.
No boasting. I row much faster than him.
I placed third in the competition.
Look at my biceps.
Squeeze it.
Squeeze, doesn't matter. It is like concrete.
I know you wouldn't lie.
How do you know Li Ming and my brother?
And how do you know he wants to married now?
I talked with him about it.
He has no objection to my suggestion.
An...do you remember.
That is your favorite game when you were young.
You called it the botanical garden's open cinema.
Here, Li Ming, look at this.
An!
Over here.
Sit with me for a while.
They don't need you between themselves.
Tiger-cat!
Get up so early.
Before they wake up I request your help.
To be my love consultant, all right?
I wrote a letter to Li Ming.
I want your advice.
An!
Give your brother a hand.
Look.
You are the most intimate friend to her.
Almost sharing the same underwear.
I will read it to you, listen!
"Dearest Ming."
"Despite not knowing each other for very long,"
"I insist... you allow me to call you so."
"Dearest..."how about it?
Nice beginning?
Vulgar.
Keep listening.
Get to the point.
"Dearest Ming."
"I feel we have known each other for a long time."
"Maybe you and I have the same feelings"
"As a soldier, I don't like to waste time."
Stop.
I don't want to listen.
"Let's be straight."
"My life, my career, needs a woman like you."
"Let's get married."
You aren't ashamed?
Don't interrupt.
- I still need to write about our future. - No interest.
I don't want to hear these things.
Pathetic.
Where are you going?
An!
So starving, almost no food for two days.
Two days for a young woman like me, isn't it impressive?
You cried.
I can see it.
It doesn't matter.
It is best that you are coming.
You doubt me?
I am afraid.
Except for you,
I will never fall in love with anybody.
What are these pigeons good for?
These pigeons?
They are intended for the pilgrims.
After the tourists make wishes, they buy and release them to carry their wishes.
And each wish corresponds to a different number of pigeons.
Make a wish. If two people want love forever,
how many pigeons they need?
64.
How about never to separate?
108.
The most favorable number.
That is also the number of sutras of Buddha!
You brother asked me to marry him. I refused.
If you are married to him,
we will never separate.
Just like our wish.
Marry him?
He is only a little soldier,
not an officer.
As the regulation says,
he can't take his relatives to Tibet.
So, his wife, can only stay at the home in Kunming,
with my father and me.
Our wish will come true.
Never separate. Never separate.
Never separate.
Got how much sticky rice and red cake?
25 kilograms.
Add 10 kilos more.
My son's wedding is the most important event in his life.
You move that to the center a little bit. Like that.
It's perfect.
Congratulations!
Thank all of you for the well wishes,
that they can have a son as soon as possible!
We have laid eight eiderdowns on it.
Eight is a good figure.
It will bring your family good luck.
Who among you is having the most children?
I have three sons and two daughters.
An, did you see my tie?
Bullshit!
Getting married tomorrow, I can't find it though.
Father, your tea.
An.
Come back.
Father, do you feel uncomfortable?
What's the matter with you?
You forgot to put even one sheet of the tea.
What the hell is happening to you?
And you cried in the afternoon.
I am waiting for you.
I know you will come.
Help me.
My virginity belongs to you.
Not Dan.
Mine belongs to you as well.
It is my honor today, because my comrades in the army,
my father's old friends...
and the Dean of Li Ming, came to attend our wedding.
And I would like to ask everyone
to raise your glasses to bless my beautiful bride.
Cheers!
She is not good at it. I will do it for her.
I believe
if their mother was still alive,
and saw this moment of her son's...
Cheers!
Li Ming, you are the bride. You should give red cakes to the guests.
Li Ming.
Give my comrades more.
Everybody!
For the fortune of this marriage,
I would like to sing a song for you.
Great!
"In the sky..."
"the little rain drops are falling."
"On the ground..."
"the gentle breezee are waving."
Ah...
The breezee is waving my hair.
How wouldn't I miss her?
Oh.
KUNLIN - MINGLI
Come with me.
Can she come?
You are really out of your mind!
We have to have our honeymoon.
Don't let me go alone!
I don't want to be all alone!
what's wrong with you?
Speak.
Why you are not a virgin?
Who the hell did you have sex with?
Do you speak or not?
Speak!
Do you speak or not?
Speak or not?
I will get it out of you!
Not speaking?
Sir, the meal you ordered.
You speak, or you will die of hunger.
Help!
Feel good. Here.
It is the best sandalwood incense.
Take a good breath.
A good breath.
Come on, and you.
During the Ming Dynasty, the botanist Li looked after them the same way.
It's horrible, so horrible.
You saw her wounds?
Why has she returned without Dan?
He is going to Tibet.
You saw her wounds?
I've seen them.
You saw what he did to Li Ming?
No matter what happened,
he's my son.
TWO MONTHS LATER
There are no duck legs for sale in the market?
They are being sold, why?
I haven't eaten it for weeks. We should buy some.
Li Ming doesn't like it.
I was afraid of that.
I told you.
Sir, the duck legs you ordered.
Thank you.
An.
An?
Father.
Why did you leave for so long?
Where is the newspaper?
Sorry, we forgot.
Yesterday, you forgot the milk.
Today, the newspaper.
What the hell are you are thinking of?
Nothing goes well in this house.
Someday, we will leave together... go far far away.
To a place so far away.
It is impossible.
If I left, my father would die.
You can't leave your father alone?
I can't leave this garden.
I received a letter from Dan this morning.
You did not contact him after he went back, did you?
It has been two months.
I did not have time.
I didn't know you had any problems.
He says you are not pregnant.
If you are not pregnant
and he can not return soon,
I suggest you go to see him directly.
Or rent a house near his station.
So both of you can...
One night,
I came here to see you.
you were asleep.
It was as if you had died.
There was an odd smell.
Before you came,
I was so lonely, horribly lonely.
But after you came,
I never had that...
feeling of loneliness.
That is my unique recipe.
These plants can be hallucinogenic.
So called illusions.
Close your eyes.
Breath deeply.
Everybody says the first time is the best.
The most magical.
I'm dizzy.
If you want to forget someone,
or something,
just repeat his name...
28 times.
Earthquake!
Yes, earthquake.
Earthquake!
You cried?
I heard it.
What?
I heard a strange name.
I was called this name before I was 3. Vera.
It is my mother's voice.
Vera?
Yes.
Vera.
I can hear, I can see my mother.
Her eyes are grey, just like mine.
Vera.
This is the first time I have seen her.
What is she doing?
I didn't know her either.
Her hair was short.
From now on,
I will have the same hair as hers.
Father.
What is happening?
You know these special peonies are damaged by the rain.
Why didn't you shelter them?
See what they look like now?
Ruined!
What are you busy doing these days?
Where is you concentration?
Excuse me, father, I forgot.
No one can avoid making mistakes.
Why are you so angry?
You dare speak to me like that?
The work is the work.
Do not allow distractions.
No excuses.
Your words have no weight here.
Just some peonies, what is the big deal?
It is none of your business! I am talking to my own daughter.
Talking to your daughter? Anyone would assume you revile your servant.
Shut up!
You are evil!
You are evil to do all of this.
My eyes are not blind.
What have you done?
I saw them clearly and remember.
I regret, regret taking you in.
I know our peace will never come as long as you stay here.
You should leave here. Right now!
If she leaves, I will too.
You have changed so much.
I don't recognize you as my daughter.
Why didn't your daughter come?
you come by yourself today?
From now on, I only read the paper I buy for myself.
Father, your drink.
An, give me some water. I need take some medicine.
An.
Evil.
Long live Chairman Mao!
Let me talk to him.
We need to leave the garden.
And never come back, never come back.
Father.
COURT OF KUNLIN
Now, as the judge of the Court,
I will present Professor Chen's testimony...
to our police officer...
when he was in bed of the hospital.
I'm a DA officer.
I want to ask everyone a question.
Why has this case made such turmoil in our society?
People are so angry. The government is concerned about it.
Because Professor Chen's testimony tells us.
The reason for his death was not the heart attack.
But another much more dreadful disease.
His daughter and daughter-in-law have the same disease, too.
This disease's name is homosexuality!
A perverse passion happening between people of the same sex
led to our famous botanist's death.
Chen An, Li Ming
committed an abominable crime
that neither the legislation, nor the natural law,
neither morals nor the society can tolerate.
The punishment must be execution.
Dear Dan.
Thank you.
At the trial, I only heard what you said.
You helped me to understand myself when I was in the orphanage.
As a matter of fact,
these are the only good words I've heard my entire life.
Other testimonies in the court
mean nothing to me.
There is only one who can judge me.
It is Chen An.
Or our love.
Dan.
I can not return to develop the TCM.
Because I have no relatives,
the orphanage is all I have.
So...
I want to ask you for two things.
First, please pay our country...
for the bullets used in our execution.
7 yuans and 80 cents.
Second,
Within view of the temple in the suburbs of Kunlin,
mix my ashes with An's.
And disperse them into the lake.
So that...
we can rest in peace.